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Lovie Smith discusses play of Isaiah Williams, status of Illini QBs heading into Week 5
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Illinois was able to get their first win of the season this past Saturday against Rutgers, even while starting a fourth quarterback in as many weeks.
Isaiah Williams went 7 for 18 for 104 yards passing in Illinois’ 23-20 win over Rutgers. However, what was most impressive was that he had 31 rushes for 195 yards and a rushing touchdown. That is a school record for yards by a QB in a single game.
Despite Williams getting the win and looking strong in his debut, head coach Lovie Smith isn’t tipping his hand regarding him starting another week:
#illini Lovie Smith: Our starting QB has been out and he's back this week. That's a good option.
Not going to name a starting QB.
"We have some good options going into this week."
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) November 16, 2020
The starting quarterback that Smith is referring to is Brandon Peters, who is eligible to play this week after testing positive for COVID-19 and sitting out of action for 21 days.
For Peters to play this week though, he obviously will have to practice and it sounds like he’s going to:
#illini Lovie Smith didn't exactly answer when Brandon Peters will practice but suggested Brandon Peters will be able to practice whenever the team practices.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) November 16, 2020
Smith also talked about Isaiah Williams’ height and it doesn’t sound like he’s overly concerned about him being 5-foot-10:
#illini Lovie Smith on Isaiah Williams' height: "There's a guy in Arizona playing good football, he's not six feet. There's a guy in Seattle, he's not six feet."
Says it's a "different day" at the QB position.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) November 16, 2020
Smith will have a big decision to make this Saturday as Illinois looks for their second win of the season against Nebraska. That game will start at Noon ET.